First Rolex and post.

[davidro]

Warm greetings to all.
As you can see I have been a member here for well over a year but this is my first post and that is because I finally have hooked, bagged and landed my first Rolex!

During this time I have read countless posts and feel familiar with many regulars. I would also like to thank you all for your interesting stories and pictures- it was an invaluable resource and I am very grateful.

My handle on TRF is the same as WUS where I am fairly active member on the Casio/Afforable forums. Basically, I am late 30's long term expat / Hong Kong resident originally from Oz. I was always been interested in watches. I have a lot of watches; mostly vintage Japanese Casios.

So how I did I arrive at a Rolex?
Living in Hong Kong I see Rolex watches everyday and initially this was a bit off-putting! I needed a decent watch for social outings and semi-formal occasions
My criteria was:
 Pedigree and prestige
 In house movements and original style
 value and good after-market support and service
Only Rolex ticked everybox.

So which model to choose? Submariners are ubiquitous. I see a lot of 30-somethings and middle aged women wearing this model. Somewhat of a turn-off and I don’t think it looks good with a suit either, sorry. P.S. I am a bit of watch snob too.
Besides, I have a Sandoz Sub with ETA movement. Initially I really liked the Yachtmaster, but when I looked around many older models had lost their lustre and it was bit redundant to get another bezel-turning sports model. What I really needed was a dress watch for smart/casual attire.

I got a DJ II blue Roman 116300 in the end, I wanted something a little colourful and different! It’s a lovely model, very subdued, with a warm feel to silver and blue contrast. To me the stick black/white dials looked ‘too Seiko’ from afar and the fluted bezel was too 'uncle' (old) looking- every elderly Chinese gent has a two-tone Datejust ( real or ‘hommage’ in Hong Kong!)
I think Rolex did a good job to make a modern size and style watch for younger men with this model.

Other honourable mentions must also go to Tutor and the Grantour date. A very similar watch in style and much cheaper, but the numbered faux-bezel around the side? Its a bit like getting a hair cut to spite your face... But I had to do it right and get a Rolex- even if the price was more than double.

It took about a month of enquiries and hunting around to find a good dealer and price in Hong Kong. You may think it is fairly easy to buy a Rolex in Hong Kong, but if you are fussy and a bargain hunter it requires a bit of extra leg-work! At this point I would also like to thank other forum members for their feedback regarding several Hong Kong grey dealers.

Chrono24 was a good place to start. First up I went to Alex Pig, they were very friendly and quoted a good price with a wait time of about 2-4 weeks. However, contrary to their website they do not have new watches in stock.
Next, I contacted Moibotime, they were very prompt and their price was very competitive.

In the end I bought from a local jeweller. I would pass this shop everyday and gradually become very friendly with a salesman there. He was very friendly and chatty. I enquired to him about the model and he went to work scouring the globe for an AD who was willing to offload one to them.

He quoted me a very reasonable price of US$5800 (RRP is $7153) an 18% discount. To be honest, Moibotime did quote cheaper, but I decided to buy from the local shop 2 minutes walk away from my home.
It took about a week for them to source the piece. I noted the card said it came from Johannesburg,A South Africa! The salesman said the serial was very lucky too being similar in sequence to love-luck-luck when said phonetically in Chinese. Curious bits of trivia only, I know. It was a great experience, I brought along some beers to share with the staff members as I timed the sale around knock-off time for them. They sized my watch and we had a nice chat with my wife and I.

I plan to start wearing the watch soon, as I am waiting for some medical results. Wish me luck and thank you for reading my post and a great forum.

[77T]

Auspicious acquisition!
I don't get to say that very often...
Welcome to TRF!

[Urosfan]

Welcome

[MonBK]

Welcome

[Nitedeuce]

Very nice, welcome!

[1William]

Welcome.

[padi56]

Welcome to TRF.

[Cc1966]

Welcome aboard!

[Johnston98]

Nice DJ! Welcome to TRF.

[subtona]

Welcome congrats

[Hairdude1]

Awesome!! Welcome and congrats!

[sea-dweller]

Welcome!

[Audemars Piguet]

Welcome

[davidro]

Thanks everyone, very warm welcome there.

Well test results were OK so I wore took off the stickers and wore it around for a while. About an hour later I noticed it got a scratch on the clasp! Oh well live and learn I guess.
Love this watch!

[HL65]

Welcome!

[photo]

Congratulations and Thank you for sharing your journey and welcome to the Rolex family !! :)
Hope your medical results turn out positive!!!

[Andad]

Hi from Oz.

Interesting dial.

[Prybar]

Welcome.

[newu5er]

Welcome

[Psmith]

Welcome!